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Title: Light-induced ultrafast spin transport in multilayer metallic films originates from sp-d spin exchange coupling

Journal Article · · Science Advances
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3]
  1. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China)
  2. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China)
  3. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Ultrafast interaction between the femtosecond laser pulse and the magnetic metal provides an efficient way to manipulate the magnetic states of matter. Numerous experimental advancements have been made on multilayer metallic films in the last two decades. However, the underlying physics remains unclear. Here, relying on an efficient ab initio spin dynamics simulation algorithm, we revealed the physics that can unify the progress in different experiments. We found that light-induced ultrafast spin transport in multilayer metallic films originates from the sp-d spin-exchange interaction, which can induce an ultrafast, large, and pure spin current from ferromagnetic metal to nonmagnetic metal without charge carrier transport. The resulting trends of spin demagnetization and spin flow are consistent with most experiments. It can explain a variety of ultrafast light-spin manipulation experiments with different systems and different pump-probe technologies, covering a wide range of work in this field.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division (MSE)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
2341861
Journal Information:
Science Advances, Journal Name: Science Advances Journal Issue: 50 Vol. 9; ISSN 2375-2548
Publisher:
AAASCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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